Oddbox, a London-based social impact business using technology to fight food waste in UK farms, has announced a £16m investment to enhance the customer experience, expand its UK footprint and increase share options for employees.
The funding comes from BurdaPrincipal Investments (BPI), the growth capital arm of media and tech company Hubert Burda Media whose titles include BBCGoodFood and Olive Magazine. With this funding, BPI joins Oddbox’s existing investors, Mercia Asset Management and Seedrs, who led a £3m funding round in March 2020.
Oddbox delivers fresh fruit and vegetable boxes with produce that is at risk of going to waste to consumers via a weekly subscription. The company currently delivers its boxes directly from growers to people’s doorsteps across London, the South, and the Midlands.
With nearly three million boxes delivered since Emilie Vanpoperinghe and Deepak Ravindran launched the company in 2016, Oddbox has reportedly saved 18,834 tonnes of fruit and veg, prevented 20,830 tonnes of carbon emissions and saved 2,028 million litres of water. In 2020, the company registered a six-fold year-on-year growth in revenue.
“With our recent growth we’ve identified key areas for Oddbox to develop and further our mission to fight food waste,” said co-founders Vanpoperinghe and Ravindran. “So while we continue to retain majority stakes, we wanted an investor to help make these developments happen, and importantly who also shares our vision that business is a force for good. We’ve found that in Burda, as they’re committed to long-term sustainability, a principle at the core of Oddbox.”
